of hostages to be released on the sixth day of the temporary truce between israel and hamas. twelve more hostages were released from gaza on tuesday — some shown here — bringing the total number now freed to more than 80. today's hostage handover included ten israeli citizens, and two thai nationals. in return, israel has released another 30 palestinian prisoners. theyjoin the 150 other palestinians — mostly women and teenage boys who have so far been released from israeli jails since the truce began on friday. among the israeli hostages released should there be another extension? we certainly hope so and thank you for having me on tonight. i can confirm at this hour that israel has received another list of potential hostages who may be released tomorrow. we are notifying the families of the people who appear on the list and all other families of hostages who are still being held in the gaza strip. we talk about 173 hostages who are still there and we certainly hope that this materialises tomorrow and that we will see, hopefully, on sixth group of hostages leaving the gaza strip and returning home to israel. so we said that we are willing to extend the mechanism, as we saw today, as what took place today and for every ten extra israeli hostages released by hamas we agree to another extra day of humanitarian pause in the fighting. i can tell you that it is an interesting development that today we saw the palestinian islamichhad, the second—largest terrorist organisation in gaza, funded by iran, they put out a statement that among the hostages released today, some were held by them. this is what they are saying. your reporter mentioned a ten—month—old baby and his family and according to the idf spokesperson the family is being held by the palestinian jihad. on that list of people who will be released as we sit here in the us, first of all, is that ten—month—old being released and are americans on this list? i cannot say, i cannot provide any details of this kind. because, you know, human life hangs in the balance here and it is all very delicate and sensitive. we have a procedure in place the way we do these things. i understand. so looking ahead we know there is interest on both sides for the ceasefire to be extended and have more hostages released. at the same time, your government and your prime minister have said that the fighting will resume. are you worried that those words could derail any further efforts to extend a ceasefire and get more hostages released 7 no. we do not see these two roles as contradictory. they go hand—in—hand. we said that we will eliminate the terrorist regime in gaza and that we want to see all hostages back and we are determined to bring each and every one of them home and we will do that. you have to remember that as president biden stated correctly a few days ago, hamas only responds to pressure. military pressure and diplomatic pressure that we exert in various ways behind—the—scenes and we saw the results of both pressures. we would not have been able to bring to the release of the hostages, the five that we saw so far if it were not for the military pressure that we exerted on hamas. we also saw the national security council spokesperson john kirby saying today that it we talk about military pressure he said that now there are more gazans in the south there is an added burden on israel to account for extra innocent life in the south in any operations. from our own journalists on the ground we know there have been strikes in southern gaza as well. what does this mean for an eventual continuation of israeli operations? we do not want to see any palestinian civilians being caught in the crossfire. not in the north, not in the south, not anywhere. there are reports of more than 14,000 people killed and more than 5000 children. how does that add up to not wanting to see civilians caught in the crossfire? these are numbers provided by hamas and we should remember that and take them with a grain of salt because according to hamas, no terrorists were eliminated whatsoever and i can tell you that thousands have been elminated including several hamas top commanders as well. we have designated a special safe zone in the south—west and also in different neighbourhoods in the palestinian civilians, they know because we notify them in various ways and we repeated multiple times and once the military activity will resume they will know and evacuate and these are safe zones where we also see humanitarian aid come in. let me ask you one more question about the hostages because that is what we will be watching closely over the next few days. 0nce women and children are released that is perhaps the easier part of these negotiations. then it comes to the remaining hostages. what happens then? how do you get past that? well, i cannot really reveal the tactics and the strategy behind the israeli efforts to bring back all hostages home. everyone knows it is a complicated situation and we did not want to be in this situation yet here we are. we are very committed as a nation to this principle of leaving nobody behind and this is exactly what we are intent on doing. thank you so much forjoining us tonight on bbc news. among the israeli hostages released on tuesday is ada sagi. our special correspondent lucy manning has been following her british—israeli son's struggle to bring her home. ada sagi is now free and herfamily can now breathe a sigh of relief. she has endured 53 days as a hostage. we followed her son's painful seven weeks and we filmed him in israel just before his mother's release. you sister buying clothes and treats for ada. and this morning they got the call with the good news, she was on the list to be freed. we were shaking with excitement, it was hard to contain so much focus of the last 53 days was all about this moment. an hour ago after his mother was released, we spoke to noam from the hospital where his mother is. it is such a huge relief, wejust finished a video call with her, she is sharp and funny, witty she is her old self. she is doing 0k? she looks good. i'm very, very happy. of course, there's she doesn't know, she doesn't know that she doesn't have a home to go back to and that so many of her friends were murdered. what will you do when you see her? ijust want to hug her and her to know how hard we fought to get to this day, that she will know forever how loved she is. we first met noam sagi in his home in north london two days after his mother was kidnapped. this is my mum's neighbours house, where they come in, they take the windows. how do you think your mum will be coping with the situation? she will find a way to calm herself down and to think positively. she will imagine her grandchildren. bring them home. he has campaigned since that day at rallies, meeting mps, diplomats, holding press conferences, and he said he was talking to the lamp post because his mother's face was on so many, and now ada sagi, the daughter of holocaust survivors, has returned and noam has his mother back. here in washington, president biden�*s son, hunter biden, has offered to testify publicly before a panel in the house of representives — but only if he can do it publicly. it's an escalation of an ongoing battle between hunter biden and republican representative, james comer, who chairs the committee. comer subpoened the president's son earlier this month as part of an impeachment inquiry into president biden. in a letter responding to the subpoena, hunter biden�*s lawyers said: but offering to testify publicly doesn't mean it will happen that way. representative comer rejected the idea, saying on x: the chairman said hunter will have to appear before the committee for his deposition, but he did also mention that hunter biden would have the opportunitity to testify publicly in the future. live now to daniella diaz, who's a congressional reporter at politico. what happens now, will hunter biden have to testify privately?— biden have to testify rivatel ? . ., privately? that was what we saw two da , privately? that was what we saw two day. him _ privately? that was what we saw two day. him trying _ privately? that was what we saw two day, him trying to _ privately? that was what we saw two day, him trying to get - privately? that was what we saw two day, him trying to get out i two day, him trying to get out of that and offering to do that in person. his lawyers have not yet said whether they plan to do this privately position, thatis do this privately position, that is what chairman, wanted to happen originally, he then did not respond to what chairman koeman said 0nyx today about calling or a private meeting between hunter biden and the committee about his business dealings and i should be clear hunter biden as you are talking about here. this is the latest escalation between hunter biden and his lawyers as well as the committee investigation into his business dealings, this is major considering leading up to this they had subpoenaed him and asked to speak with them privately but they deal and when i say they hunter biden his lawyers and his team feel these are bad faith negotiations with the chairman and his team, looking into his business dealings and that is why they wanted this to go public. why they wanted this to go ublic. ., , ., why they wanted this to go .ublic, , , ., . why they wanted this to go ublic. ,, , ., ., ., ., public. question a lot of --eole public. question a lot of peeple will _ public. question a lot of people will be _ public. question a lot of. people will be wondering, public. question a lot of- people will be wondering, what does this mean for president biden? ., ., ., biden? right now there are no clear ties between _ biden? right now there are no clear ties between chairman i clear ties between chairman investigation into hunter biden�*s business dealings and joe biden, that is what they are trying to prove, that's what we have seen time and again in these public hearings, these public depositions that have come out as the chairman trying to link hunter biden and his business dealings tojoe biden saying joe biden had a bad faith role and what hunter biden was doing but so far they have not been able to prove that but they want to continue to investigate hunter biden�*s as niss dealings in private hoping they can make some kind of connection and keep it out of connection and keep it out of the spotlight. figs of connection and keep it out of the spotlight.— of connection and keep it out of the spotlight. as the white house saying _ of the spotlight. as the white house saying anything - of the spotlight. as the white house saying anything about| house saying anything about this? , . ., , this? they have remained very silent on this _ this? they have remained very silent on this issue _ this? they have remained very silent on this issue they - this? they have remained very silent on this issue they thinkl silent on this issue they think things will prove themselves to be clear and transparentjust be clear and transparent just the be clear and transparentjust the way the chairman is operating in trying to investigate the biden family they believe if they continue and let that play out with giving it a lot of oxygen it will eventually go away and so far it has not gone that much media attention concerning everything else happening on capitol hill, the speakers race and george santos, this is one minor thread of a lot of this happening at capitol hill. that is the perfect _ happening at capitol hill. that is the perfect segue _ happening at capitol hill. that is the perfect segue i - happening at capitol hill. that is the perfect segue i want to ask you about santos. but i want to catch up viewers on what is happening. the clock is ticking in the latest attempt to expel representative, george santos. democrats took steps to force a vote to expel the republican freshman congressman, giving the house just two legistlative days to bring it to a vote. it's the third attempt to remove him this year. it's come exactly two weeks after the house ethics committee released a report finding evidence that santos "blata ntly stole" from his campaign. with that report in mind, it's possible more republicans mayjoin in the effort to expel him this time. the congressman is also facing 23 federal charges, to which he's pleaded not guilty. santos, who's said he won't seek re—election in 2024, has denied all wrongdoing. he's also made it clear he's not backing away from the fight. you all want a soundbite. this is the third time we are going through this. i do not care, i was sent here by the people of the third district of new york, i represent them, not the political class in washington, dc, if they want to send me home, the thing this is a fair process and how it should be done and if they are confident this is the constitutional way of doing it. god bless their hearts. , ., hearts. george santos has defined -- _ hearts. george santos has defined -- to _ hearts. george santos has defined -- to find, - hearts. george santos has defined -- to find, how. hearts. george santos has defined -- to find, how is| hearts. george santos has. defined -- to find, how is it defined —— to find, how is it looking, well he be expelled? he will probably not be in congress by the end of this week or next week spoke coming to the floor, the reality is at politico we have done extensive account of members to see where they stand on this issue there will need to be at least 80 republicans with all house democrats to expel george santos, right now it looks like that number is there, they have the votes, democrats and some of the republicans who want to expel george santos. problem some republicans have said they would not support a democratic lead effort to expel santos and thatis lead effort to expel santos and that is being led by two democrats who introduced the resolution today and a privilege resolution, house floor rules but basically they can move this vote in two days. meanwhile, republican michael guest was on the ethics committee that revealed the report about george santos with a lot of details about he misused campaign funds, he will introduce his own so republicans will likely get behind that one instead and that one is up for a vote this week george santos could be expeued week george santos could be expelled as soon as the end of this week. expelled as soon as the end of this week-— expelled as soon as the end of this week. can you explain why and his seat — this week. can you explain why and his seat is _ this week. can you explain why and his seat is so _ this week. can you explain why and his seat is so important? l and his seat is so important? he flipped that seat, was previously held by democrats and he was one of the seats republicans were able to gain to have a majority and how so they could have a republican speaker. if that seat is taken back and held as a special election in new york which is what was expected to happen and george santos is expelled that seat will likely become a democratic seat again, thus, making the majority that republicans have in the house even less, very razor thin charity right now it is four republican votes republicans have to pass bills on the house floor and having republican speaker george santos is expeued speaker george santos is expelled that would be three and that is if there are no absences in the house which at any time there are votes on the house side there are usually some absences. than house side there are usually some absences. an interesting next few days. _ some absences. an interesting next few days, daniella - some absences. an interesting next few days, daniella diaz i next few days, daniella diaz from politico, thank you for joining us. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. australia will ban imports of disposable vapes in january 2024 in order to curb... new laws will be introduced to halt production, advertisement and use of single—use vapour. the import of vapes has been illegal since 2021 in australia but the rates of addiction have continued to rise. european union's top court have ruled that... religious beliefs such as an islamic headscarf. it is the latest decision on an issue that has divided europe for years. the case came to the court of justice after years. the case came to the court ofjustice after belgian women was told she could not wear a hijab at work. the us senate will start considering our package that includes aid for and gaza as well as ukraine. republicans are calling for tougher us border enforcement measures to be tied to any further aid for ukraine. senate majority leader chuck schumer says he intends to bring the aid package to the floor next week, despite those divisions. you're live with bbc news. turning to some positive news now out of india, where, in the state of uttarakhand, rescuers pulled out all 41 workers who were trapped for 17 days inside a collapsed tunnel. miners drilled through the debris of rock and concrete to reach them. this triggered celebration across india once the rescue was complete. the evacuation of the men, who were low—wage workers from some of india's poorest states, began after rescuers broke through the debris in the tunnel on november 12th. the trapped men were pulled out on wheeled stretchers through a 3—foot—wide steel pipe. the bbc�*s correspondent was at the tunnel. this moment, more than two weeks in the making — 4i trapped workers finally rescued. cheering an eruption of cheers from workers and onlookers. people sharing sweets and hugs. these are the ambulances with the first workers that have come out from inside the tunnel. 17 days, they have spent inside that tunnel and now they are finally out and in those ambulances. rescuers spent the last several days pushing an 800—millimetre pipe through 60 metres of rubble and debris. 0nce through, the men were pulled out on wheeled stretchers, one by one. it's been a harrowing experience for the men inside and those working to get them out. and how do you feel? 0h, after 12 days... he sobs chaudhary has been waiting for 14 days, watching the mouth of the tunnel, and waiting for this moment where he could kiss his son. translation: i am very happy. i'm 55 and i've seen life, but my son is very young and he has a long life. i want him to fight every storm in his long life. the rescue operation that gripped the country finally has its happy ending. samira hussain, bbc news, uttarakhand. now ukraine's military intelligence is the wife of the country's spy chief has been poisoned with heavy metals. she is now being treated in the hospital after she fell ill. ukrainian intelligence as other agency employees also had mild symptoms of poisonings but did not say how many. it is not clear whether or not russia is behind the alleged attack and it is not clear who the target was. for more on the mystery surrounding the possible poisoning our correspondent is in kyiv. what happened is a very reasonable question. answering it is not as straightforward. we know the wife of the general has been poisoned. that was confirmed by the intelligence service after multiple reports. citing intelligence sources. we are told that it was heavy metal poisoning and that she is being treated in hospital and the reports also suggest that other defence officials have fallen ill as well. the general has not fallen ill. 0r fallen ill as well. the general has not fallen ill. or we can really provide around this is context. the general is seen as a mastermind really. he is very highly regarded here in ukraine. he had a meteoric surge in defence of course becoming the head of the intelligence services of ukraine. he is someone who has been behind drone attacks inside russia, for example, as well as other operations. he is someone who has had multiple attempts on his life in the past. he said in a recent interview that he has lived in his office with his wife since the full—scale invasion. is for motives, we do not know for sure whether this was a russian operative or someone on the inside, but we have had comments recently from senior officials in kyiv that they suspect that russia has activated sleeper spies inside ukraine. james waterhouse forest there. some foreign ministers are... despite lacklustre progress in ukraine's counteroffensive. 0ur reporter sent this report from the conference. there has been a lot of talk about ukraine fatigue and about genuine concerns here in brussels about us support of ukraine faltering because of the middle east but also because of what is happening in the us, with their congress. that so far has been unable to agree on the next aid package for kyiv. so it is very likely that antony blinken will use this nato meeting to reassure allies that the us is able to handle both was at the same time. now, when nato is saying is that they keep supporting ukraine by providing military aid and a wide range of weapons, including drones, missiles from the uk and france, extra money that has just been pledged by germany and the netherlands, extra ammunition from the us and finland and recently they have set up a training base in romania when nato is hoping to start training ukrainian pilots early next year. there are countries in nato, such as hungary and slovakia, that are not very keen on sending additional help to ukraine. but having said that, what nato is trying to project is a united front and a strong message of continued support for ukraine. before we go we want to bring you up—to—date on an escalating dispute between britain and greece over the parthenon — elgin marbles. the greek president says he was deeply disappointed by the cancellation of meeting scheduled with rishi sunak in london. it comes after the greek president said the elgin marbles should be returned to athens. richie sirnak was reported to be a been irritated by the comments at the sculpture is currently in the british museum were removed from the parthenon in the 19th century. that is a show at this hour but don't forget you can head to our website. you will see there that we have a live page running on the israel— gaza wall at the moment with the lightest laws that there are more hostages released under the true. we've received confirmation from an israeli government spokesperson that they have received a list of they have received a list of the hostages to be released on wednesday. they updated there on our website and here i bbc news. thank for watching. hello there. well, temperatures will be plunging even further, still, as we head through the rest of the week. there's more snowfall always possible, particularly across the north of scotland, such as here in aviemore, but even potentially to some lower levels as well, with wintry showers feeding into north sea facing coast. there'll be some icy stretches here. but for most of us, it is expected to stay dry. but just temperatures really struggling by day to get out of mid single figures, widespread air frost by night. and that's how we're starting off wednesday morning, with temperatures widely below freezing, maybe as low as —7 to —9 degrees celsius across parts of scotland, a little milderfor the south and the west underneath some areas of cloud, and with a few rain showers around. there'll also be some patches of freezing fog. and where we see those, they'll be slow to lift and clear. there'll be some more wintry showers just feeding into northern scotland for these north sea facing coasts as well. possibly a few accumulations a little further inland. those showers as far south as lincolnshire, but for most, sunny spells, temperatures not getting much past three to five degrees, but of course, milder in the far south and the west underneath all of that cloud. and that's where we look to find this low pressure system that's been really quite troublesome through the week. but now, it does look much more likely that this is going to be falling as rain towards the channel coast as we head through thursday, could possibly lap onshore at times given more clouds and outbreaks of rain towards the south coast, and maybe a bit of wintryness over the tops of the moors in the south or west with the elevation. further north, though, some sunny spells again, wintry showers for north sea—facing coast. temperatures once more unlikely to make it much past three to five degrees celsius. let's take a look at friday because not a lot is set to change. we've got more of an easterly wind possibly feeding some showers through parts of the thames estuary, over the downs, perhaps the higher ground here. but for the most part, i think it should stay dry. again, there'll be some sunny spells and quite a bit of added wind chill as well. as you can see from the temperature anomaly map, temperatures are well below the seasonal average, marked in the blue here. all of that cold air just sweeping down from scandinavia. and there's no real improvement in the temperatures, either, as we head through the weekend and into the start of next week. still feeling bitterly cold. here's the temperature outlook for our capital cities, possibly a bit of wintryness on saturday night, again, into sunday further south. bye for now. american tech giant amazon unveils a range of new ai products to challenge its rivals in the market. and un climate talks begin this week but can they achieve much with the oil producing giant uae as its host? hello and welcome to asia business report with me, arunoday mukharji. our top story this hour is amazon because the american tech giant has unveiled its own ai assistant called 0 meant to help its business customers. the chatbot which will cost $20 each month and summarise documents, manage cloud severances and power business apps. but that was not the only new release from amazon